To ensure there is no repeat of legal tangles that law enforcement agencies have been facing to bring fugitives to book, a meeting between the officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is to be held in Delhi on Thursday.

Sources said that the meeting will discuss extradition plea of wanted diamantaires Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.The meeting comes days after the CBI moved Interpol to issue Red Corner Notices against Nirav Modi and his uncle Choksi who are wanted in the over Rs 13,500-crore fraud at the Punjab National Bank (PNB).

“The request for RCN has been moved and most likely it should come to effect by mid-July. Once the RCN comes into effect, it will be binding on the member country to arrest the duo in case they were found leaving the country through any of their ports. In the event this happens, the formality for extradition commences. However, in the past we have faced many problems like in the case of liquor baron Vijay Mallya. Thus to ensure that all the three – ED, CBI and MEA – are on the same page, a meeting is being chaired to discuss the extradition plea so that there is deliberation on the need to have the documents in place. It an exercise to ensure that we don’t waste time and move immediately for extradition,” said an official.

“…since UK has already confirmed the presence of Modi in their country, the meeting will be to discuss the extradition plea as per the treaty between India and UK,” the official said. Sources said the MEA has sought details from the two agencies and the meeting would be focusing on the same.

On Choksi, the official said the discussion would be as per the treaty signed with USA. “We have reasons to believe Choksi is holed up in the US and therefore on Choksi, the extradition treaty would be discussed as per the treaty signed between the two countries.”